Fragmentation may need users wondering who should be patching their Android devices

Android fragmentation has been a significant problem for Android smartphone users, smartphone makers, and developers for a long time. Hardware capabilities of Android devices vary widely and not all smartphone manufacturers are willing to give older smartphones upgrades to the latest versions of Android OS (hoping instead that customers will simply buy a new smartphone).

Security researchers are now saying that the rampant fragmentation in the Android market could leave users vulnerable to attacks. According to the researchers, one of the major problems is that it remains unclear who is responsible for patching the Android operating system on smartphones on the market.

The question is should Google, the smartphone maker, or the wireless carrier be offering fixes for security issues. Google often moves quickly to patch security problems, but carriers and smartphone makers that use a customized operating system may drag their feet or simply not offer the fix at all.

This fact, according to security experts, means that the Android operating system leaves users more vulnerable to hackers, scam artists, and malware than competing operating systems.

“You have potentially millions of Androids making their way into the work space, accessing confidential documents,” said Christopher Soghoian, a former Federal Trade Commission technology expert who now works for the American Civil Liberties Union. “It’s like a really dry forest, and it’s just waiting for a match.”

The researchers say that if a major malware outbreak for Android devices surfaces, the system for updating smartphones using Android could dramatically slow efforts to protect information carried on the devices.

Or... You could say that the worlds most popular and widely used mobile platform has the same issues as the the worlds most popular and widely used desktop platform. Its part of being on top, you are a target. Its like saying the US gets more terrorist threats than Peru does. Of course it does.

Uncurated app sources are the main reason. iOS has malware too, but almost all of it comes from sideloading apps that didn't go through the app store. If you can install anything then a third party can give you malware.

iOS has the biggest active mobile userbase in terms of internet and app downloads, it is a massive target. Blocking malware through a central channel is how there is less of it.

You do realize with Windows 7 it's been extremely secure. In fact people believe their Macs to be immune but it's far less secure than a standard Windows 7 machine. Did you type this in 2008? Their commenting board must be trying to catch up or something.

The vast majority of malware on the desktop is on Windows PCs and the vast majority of mobile malware is on Android, so it just seems logical that the two OS work together in this brilliantly integrated way with malware that straddles both systems.